← Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories
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Get Sleepy is a production of Slumber Studios and is made possible thanks to the generous support of our sponsors and Premium members. If you'd like to listen ad free and access weekly bonus episodes, extra long stories and our entire back catalogue, you can try out premium free for seven days by following the link in the episode notes. Now, a quick word from our sponsors.
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This episode is brought to you by JCPenney and if you've been to JCPenney recently. Yes, JCPenney, you'll know it's becoming the way to find good clothes for prices that still make sense. They've got hidden gems for everyone and every budget with deals and rewards that actually make a dent. If you already shop JCPenney, you feel like you know a secret. But if not, it's time to ask. Wait, am I sleeping on JCPenney? Shopjcpenney.com Yes, JCPenney hey, it's Tom.
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I'm excited to share with you the newest show from Slumber Studios. It's called Sleepy History and it's exactly what it sounds like. Intriguing stories, people, mysteries and events from history delivered in a supremely calming atmosphere. Explore the legend of El Dorado. See what life was like for the Roman gladiators. Uncover the myths and mysteries of Stonehenge. You'll find interesting but relaxing episodes like these on Sleepy History and the same great production quality you've come to know and love from Get Sleepy. So check it out and perhaps you'll have another new way to get a good night's rest. Just search Sleepy History in your preferred podcast player. Welcome to Get Sleepy, where we listen, we relax and we get sleepy. As always, my name is Thomas and it's my humble pleasure to be your host. Tonight's story was written by Alicia Stefan and I'll be reading it for you. It was a special request from a loyal Get Sleepy listener and it was a real delight for the whole team to bring it to fruition. In 2024, the Royal Collection Trust in England celebrated the hundred year anniversary of of Queen Mary's dollhouse, which reportedly remains the largest in the world. And it is truly a wondrous sight, filled with priceless miniatures to delight people of all ages. But even if you can't visit the special house in England, you can find amazing doll's houses in other countries. For example, in Denmark, Titania's palace is the main attraction with 18 rooms and 3,000 artefacts to enjoy. There is also Tara's palace in Ireland, which has an impressive 22 rooms decorated in the Georgian style, each filled with gorgeous handiwork. But to see a doll's house infused with both fairy magic and the glamour of Hollywood, look no further than Illinois in the United States. There you will find Colleen Mors Fairy Castle, which we will visit together tonight. If you'd love more content from Get Sleepy and the very best listening experience, be sure to check out our members subscription Get Sleepy Premium Tomorrow night in our weekly Premium Exclusive episode, Jessica will be narrating as we visit one of the oldest and most enchanting neighborhoods in all of Europe, Alfama in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. To find out more about all the perks of being a Get Sleepy Premium member, like ad free listening, early access to episodes, discount on merchandise, and plenty more, just visit the link in the description thank you so much for your support. Before we tell you the story behind this legendary doll's house, make sure you are ready for the Enchantment Let go of the real world cares of your day. Just pack them up and shelve them for the night. Right now, you are in the relaxing role of the listener. You have no other job than to prepare for a good night's rest. Find your most comfortable position in your bed and start consciously slowing and regulating your breathing. As you do this, stretch and release any parts of you that are holding on to tension your fingers, your toes, your ankles, your calves. As your body lets go of that stress, just sink into your mattress, allowing gravity to do its work. There's nothing more to concern yourself with today, so allow the body to relax fully and you can follow along with this dreamy story for as long as you like, knowing that you can fall asleep at any time and come back to it another night. If you want to hear more now, let's begin our story. On the south side of the famous city of Chicago, visitors can enjoy the wonders of the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere. Boasting more than 4,400,000 square feet of exhibits, the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry has hosted an estimated 180 million guests since it opened in 1933. The scope of the exhibits is truly astounding, ranging from a look inside a coal mine to a tour of a World War II submarine to spaces dedicated to biology, energy and space. But what you might not expect is that the lower level is also host to what is one of the world's most intricate and astounding dollhouses. At the mention of a doll's house, you may picture a structure with only a few rooms, small enough to sit in the corner of a child's bedroom and populated by Little people. But the one featured in this exhibit at the Griffin Museum is a legitimate work of art, stunning in its scope and attention to detail. The museum website gently jokes that this fanciful construction is the original tiny House. But the word tiny only applies to the items in its interior. Measuring 8ft 7 inches by 8ft 2 inches by 7ft 7 inches in size, the Doll's House that the museum calls a fairy castle even has a turret that stands to the height of 12ft. But even with these impressive dimensions, it is what's inside that truly sparks the imagination. Namely, the house contains over 1500amazing miniatures, each of which was created with a level of detail that is almost unbelievable. Nearly as fascinating as the Doll's House is the background of its creator. Her story can be traced to a time before the museum had even opened, and it demonstrates that the Doll's house served a surprisingly valiant purpose before it settled into its current location. Let us take you back to the year 1923. The United States was reveling in the decade we now refer to as the Roaring Twenties. Thanks to the advent of films, the stars of the silver screen were some of pop culture's greatest celebrities. It was that year, 1923, when a beautiful young actress named Colleen Moore burst upon the scene, becoming an overnight sensation after starring in a silent film called Flaming Youth. Although only an 11 minute piece of this film survives today, we know that it had a huge impact on American culture. Namely, it reflected the new freedom women were experiencing in the transformative age of the flappers. In his retrospective essay, Echoes of the Jazz Age, referring to the new morals of the era, iconic author F. Scott Fitzgerald said, I was the spark that lit up Flaming Youth and Colleen Moore was the torch. If you have never heard of Flaming Youth, you're not alone. In fact, it has been estimated that 90% of the films made prior to 1929 have now been lost, which includes 75% of all silent films like Flaming Youth. But even the modern viewer will recognise the signature sleek, bobbed hairstyle of the Flappers, which was largely popularised by none other than Colleen Moore. According to the Library of Congress, Colleen continued to make films throughout the 20s and into the early 30s, rating as one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood at the time. But underneath the glamorous exterior, Colleen also had a great mind for business. She invested her earnings wisely, and even after her career in film had ended and the Great Depression arrived, she was financially comfortable. In fact, she was so good at managing her money that she later became a partner at the investment firm Merrill Lynch. The LA Times newspaper once characterised her as Peter Pan with a collegiate figure and a Wall Street. It was the success of her financial life in combination with her Hollywood connections that made the construction of her impressive doll's house possible. Colleen had already owned numerous doll's houses as a child and in the prime of her film career. In 1928, she decided to pursue her passion for them on a grander scale. Enlisting the help of architect and Hollywood set designer Horace Jackson, she developed a layout for her project. It was to be no order ordinary style house. According to the Griffin Museum, the stated goal was that the architecture must have no sense of reality and that they would invent a structure that was everybody's conception of an enchanted castle. Of course, the interiors of this house would have to be even more incredible than the exterior. To get them just right, Colleen appealed to a man named Harold Grieve who had created the interiors of her own home. Showing her typical forward thinking nature, Colleen also made sure that this incredible structure would be portable and not permanently anchored in whatever place she and her team constructed it accordingly. It was cast of aluminium are made to be broken down into 200 individual modular units that could be packed into the drawers of shipping crates specially designed for the purpose. Incredibly, the house also had fully functional plumbing and electricity. But this focus on making the structure to mimic a real house didn't keep its creators from pursuing a sense of magic first and foremost. Instead of featuring small figures throughout the home demonstrating life happening inside, Colleen and her collaborators left the entire display empty of people, but filled with the suggestion that fairies lived there. This mood was evident in the whimsical themes of the rooms, which were inspired by fairy tales and folklore. But it was also apparent in the little details throughout. For example, there was no railing placed on the spiral staircase, suggesting that fairies could go up and down it by simply balancing with their wings in another room. Colleen's own original narration once explained, this furniture is made for fairy folk who like to read in different positions. That chair turned up in front is made for a little elf who likes to read with his feet in the air. By the time the doll's house was completed in 1934, there were a hundred people working on it. Its estimated value was US$500,000 at the time, which would be roughly 11 or $12 million nowadays. But Colleen Moore wasn't content to simply admire her finished project. With the nation entrenched in the Great Depression, she wanted to do something to help people. So she took the doll's house in all of its places portable parts and began exhibiting it around the country. To raise money for children's charities. She travelled by rail, stopping in major cities around the United States. At each stop, a team of 10 people would assemble, assemble and then disassemble the entire structure. Often she would exhibit the Doll's House as an attraction in the toy department of a major retailer. These included the flagship Macy's store in New York City, the fair in Chicago, and May Co. In Los Angeles. One brochure offered by the fair declared the Doll's House to be a museum in itself and promised visitors, you will want to see it again. And on just one day in 1935, Macy's reported a crowd of 115,000 visitors to see the Doll's House, each paying a small entry fee. Although the dawn of World War II brought an end to the travelling show in the Beginning of the 1940s, Colleen did manage to raise $650,000 of the original one million dollar goal she had set for herself. It was truly an enormous charitable contribution during hard times. But it was not just the money that that Colleen offered the public as a gift. Her hope was that the Doll's House would inspire a sense of wonder and community in the people who flocked to see the exhibits. At a time when there was so much strife in the world, she wanted to bring people the escape escape she herself experienced through its creation. In 1949, the Director of the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry sat next to Colleen Moore at a dinner. By the end, he had convinced her to make the museum the new home of her Doors house. The museum renamed it Colleen Morse Fairy Castle and it has resided there ever since, bringing that precious sense of wonder to millions of visitors who come to experience it. Now imagine that you have entered the room of the museum containing this unique fairy castle. Take a deep breath because you are about to fall under its marvelous spell. At this moment, you are the only person entering the hushed space where the fairy castle lives. Suspended in time, protected from the elements so that it will not fade or crumble, you are filled with a sense of anticipation, but also reverence. One side of the Doll's house gives you a full view of the castle exterior. It is indeed a residence fit for a fairy princess. The grace to stone facade features small fanciful windows. Turrets soar upwards in varying shapes. Small doors give tantalizing glances to the lavish rooms within. And lights twinkle from behind those apertures as if to invite you you to enter. In the middle, on the ground floor, a sumptuous Courtyard called the Magic Garden beckons. Viewing this exquisite space gives you an introduction to the level of detail that you will find throughout the house. A cradle rests in a rocking tree studded with gems that once belonged to Colleen's grandmother. There are also decorations on the walls. To the left, imbass relief. You can find illustrations from the wizard of Oz. Over the door to the Great hall, the genie emerges from his lamp to meet Aladdin. And above the Great hall, on a balcony, you can see pictures from Don Quixote. Tiny bronze gates stand partially open at the entrance to the garden, as if you have arrived just in time to be whisked inside. You can well imagine that fairies had recently appeared in the courtyard and then disappeared through the front door. As a human observer, your route to the inside is to walk around the house, where its rooms become visible from the exterior. Peering inside the Great hall is even more awe inspiring than you had anticipated. The floor is made of ivory tile. The spiral staircase provides a dramatic centerpiece, descending gracefully into the room, unencumbered by a railing of the sort that mortals would require. The ceiling is painted with scenes from fairy tales. Even the windows are gorgeously decorated with these vignettes. You spot one from Jack and the Beanstalk and another from the Princess and the Seven Swan. And in this room you find a miniature framed drawing of Mickey and Minnie Mouse contributed by Walt Disney himself. Other tiny items in the room are even more wonderful. You spy what surely must be Cinderella's glass slippers decorated with tiny red bows. Then you are delighted to spot the three chairs belonging to the bears from the Goldilocks story. You can't believe how small they are. In fact, even the largest, belonging to Papa bear, weighs only 1 150,000th of an ounce. You scrutinize a pedestal in the middle of the room and see that it is a nest full of golden eggs, presumably belonging to the fairy tale goose herself. There are also pieces of ancient art. And on either side of the door, there are two little silver suits of stately armour. These came from the collection of actor Rudolph Valentino himself. But the defence of the room is not entirely up to the knights. Near the nest with the golden eggs, there is a teeny tiny pistol that is actually capable of fir. There is even a working console radio that stands less than 3 inches tall. Behind the Great hall, you are able to view the chapel, which is full of wonders. First and foremost, there is a good gold monstrance containing a sliver of wood that some believe to be an actual piece of the cross on which Jesus was crucified. This bit of wood was a gift to Killeen from the former ambassador to Italy, Clare Boothe Luce, who had received it from the Pope. Another noteworthy miniature in the chapel is the printed Bible, which is often referred to as the smallest in the world. It contains the entire New Testament. The chapel boasts floor to ceiling stained glass windows and also has a pipe organ with a hundred keys that plays music via a remote control. Adding to the richness of the room is a 500-year-old carved ivory crucifix and a gold baptismal font. The floor is made of inlaid ivory and features biblical symbols. Cinderella's drawing room is another magnificent feast for the eyes. The famous character presides over the room from a mural painted on the wall. You are drawn to the glittering chandelier in the ceiling, which was designed by a Beverly Hills jeweller. The floor is beautiful, made of rose quartz and jade from Ch China. Reportedly, it took nine months to complete. And that's not the only thing hailing from that region of the world. There are two vases at the foot of the stairs that were carved from Amber over 500 years ago and which came from the collection of the Dowager Empress of China. You spy a darling little chess set on the table, waiting for fairy players to arrive. And although it's easy to spot the rosewood grand piano, what's less obvious is that there are real musical scores on it, handwritten by famous composers of the early 20th century. After the brightness of the drawing room, the undersea theme of the library is both moody and soothing. Literary scenes of the sea adorn the walls, including the characters of Gulliver, Captain Kidd and Robinson Crusoe. The furniture fits the setting perfectly, with legs fashioned from verdigris co copper in the shape of seahorses and sea snails. Even the pillows are in the shapes of stars and moons, such as one would see sailing at night. But most amazing is the fact that the library holds most of the books in the house, which number over a hundred. Many of them are in the handwriting of their own famous 20th century authors, including legends such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck and Willa Catherine. And for other famous people, there is a postage stamp sized autograph book. It contains the signatures of such luminaries as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Charles de Gaulle, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Queen Elizabeth II and no fewer than six US Presidents. Furthermore, there are two photograph albums. One features European royalty and another is full of movie stars. This drawing room feels like a place you could stay for hours if you were only small enough. The dining room is centred on a replica of King Arthur's round table and is set with tiny solid gold plates, knives and forks. While a doll's house was going through a recent restoration, the artisans had to wear masks to avoid accidentally inhaling these especially tiny artifacts on the table. You wish you had superhuman vision so you could see see the famously minuscule stitches of the hanging tapestries. They also feature stories of King Arthur and were reportedly made by a master needlework artist in Vienna. The walls are marble, but the walnut furniture gives the entire room a feeling of warmth that contrasts with the cool nautical themes you just left behind in the library. The kitchen is steeped in fairy tale details. Its copper oven is meant to bring to mind the one that belonged to the witch in Hansel and Gretel. But all that is actually inside the oven is the pie with four and 20 blackbirds from the famous nursery rhyme. Copper pots also hang nearby on a pot rack. The walls feature murals that show scenes from the three Little Pigs, Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty and Little Bo Peep, who even has her sheep along with her stacked on the table as if waiting to be set out. There is a set of actual royal Dalton china that is an exact replica of the one in Queen Mary's enormous doll's house at Windsor Castle. Peeking upstairs next, you are first drawn to what is known as the Princess's bedroom. Its colours remind you a bit of the Great Hall. The golden bed itself is inspired by Sleeping Beauty. It is shaped like a swan and adorned with cupids. Spread over it is a delicate coverlet that imitates a spider's web. The walls are painted with whimsical flourishes and fairy pictures. And the tall windows are made of stained glass. The various instruments in the room were crafted from jewellery. You can just imagine the Princess sitting gracefully at the beautiful harp. The Battersea enamel furniture is decorated with gold and diamond jewelry. Two dramatic chandeliers hang from the ceiling above with specially designed light bulbs no larger than a grain of wheat. But perhaps the most incredible miniature in the room is what is reportedly the world's smallest toiletry set. There is actual foxhair in the brush, which the creator trimmed from his wife's coat. The Princess also has a tiny mirror as well as a perfume bottle that sits near bejeweled boxes. But it is the cool luxury of her bathroom that perhaps delights you the most. Like the library, it has an underwater theme. The jade green crystal walls are etched with the story of Undine, who was A water spirit. The bath itself is surrounded by silver swans and cupids. Most incredibly, there is actual running water, thanks to the storage area in the tallest part of the castle and the pumps that move the water through the house. When it reaches the bathroom, it pours like a fountain into the tub from the mouths of elegant silver dolphins. In the back of the bathroom, a six sided mirror reflects more cupids. And recessed lighting glamorously sets the entire space aglow. You would love to lose yourself in this watery paradise. The prince's bedroom continues the cool, soothing tones with blue enamel walls, but his themes center around heroic stories. The ceilings are decorated with Russian and Asian frescoes and gold detailing. Keeping with those themes, the story of the Russian Tsar, Sultan and the Swan Princess is carved into the furniture. Lying on the rich walnut bed, there is a replica of King Arthur's sword, Excalibur, calling to mind great deeds. Heightening the cold weather mood. From the Russian pictures is the white bearskin rug on the floor. Colleen reportedly gathered the material for this from one of her own furs. And the taxidermist made its mouth using mouse teeth. And of course, the prince also has his own gorgeous bathroom. Again, themes of the sea are apparent in the sink, which is moulded like a shell. The matching mirror above it is set with jewels. Water pours into the alabaster tub from golden mermaids holding more shells. As a final flourish, there is a matching gold Japanese chest that dates back about 500 years. Unbelievably, there is still another room left to see. This fairy story finishes with an attic full of fairy trinkets and antiques, presumably from former occupants. You lean in to scrutinize the items there. It appears that there are a few out of season festive decorations. A wreath and a basket hang from the ceiling. An old chaise lounge and a large painting rest on one side. A pair of tall red boots stands brightly in the center. Enticingly, there is a steamer trunk covered in labels that must have travelled the fairy realm. You smile to yourself, thinking how accurately it captures many a storage space in the real world. And with that, you have seen the entire magical fairy castle. You step back in the low lit room and absorb the silence for a moment, your head full of the tiny wonders that rest within the display sealed behind the protective glass. It is truly the domain of good fairies, just waiting for its occupants to pop back in and take up residence once again. As you ponder the sky scale of Colleen Moore's imaginative and generous legacy, you recall a quote from an article about her construction of the doll's house. Referring to the gift of the religious relic in the chapel, the one from Clare Booth Luce, Colleen said, the time will never come when we will not be in the presence of miracles. And at this moment, walking away slowly and quietly from this enchanted, hushed place, you feel a profound gratitude for experiencing that here. Later, perhaps, in the world of dreams, you will return to Colleen's fairy castle and see its wonders for yourself once again. Sa.